Nations Championship begins as Ireland, Wales, Japan and Scotland win openers

The Nations Championship has opened with wins for Ireland over Australia, Wales over Fiji, New Zealand over France, Japan over Italy and Scotland over Argentina, while England were beaten by South Africa at Ellis Park. Japan’s 27-10 victory against Italy was the only score listed in the supplied source material.

The tournament sets the Six Nations teams against South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and invited sides Fiji and Japan. Each side is due to face all six teams from the opposite group once, split across three July rounds and three November rounds.

The format is designed to build toward a late-November play-off weekend at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, where teams are matched by their ranking within each hemisphere. The top-ranked northern and southern sides meet in the final match, which determines the inaugural Nations Championship winner.

There is also a separate hemisphere contest across finals weekend, with points awarded for play-off wins and extra value placed on the first-place match. For editors and fans, the early storyline is whether the opening results already hint at a balance of power, or whether the July and November schedule will reshape the standings.